A bad day at the
office
Burnley 0 Gillingham 3, 18 April 2000
Cozzo
Tuesday morning, 18th April, 10 a.m.
I’m sat at my desk still debating whether or not to go to the game. Checked the train
times and knew I could catch the 14.35 and still be in Preston just after five. Rang up
and found I could get a reasonably priced ticket and, having gained approval for two half
days leave the decision was made; I was going.
It ended up as a case of I couldn’t really
miss it, as we were now in the situation that five wins would gain us automatic promotion.
A situation that we couldn’t have foreseen seven or eight games ago when we were ten
points adrift was now a reality, and to miss such a big game as Gillingham would be too
difficult to take. Especially as it would mean resorting to teletext and/or Five Live. No,
I was going and that was that.
After scurrying round to get to Euston I ended
up arriving in plenty of time for the train. No seats on the train (£47 to sit on the
floor for 2½ hours; thanks Mr Branson, you certainly have made a difference! Didn’t
even offer the usual First Class upgrades, probably because the train was full and too
many people might take them up) and only one young Gillingham supporter spotted on an
otherwise uneventful journey.
Had been a bit concerned about the recent
weather and the fact that the game might be called off after all this effort, but I
needn’t have worried, because although it was miserable and drizzly, the threatened
downpours didn’t materialise. Gillingham are a big physical side and a heavy water
laden pitch would more likely suit them, but fortunately that wouldn’t be the case.
As we arrived at the Sparrer the teams had been
given out on the radio and the good news was that Asaba hadn’t even made the bench
for the Gills. Cooke still wasn’t fit and the Clarets remained completely unchanged
from Saturday’s last gasp win. Gillingham lined up as expected with only Onura up
front and five across the middle, and from the off made their intentions very clear: that
they were here to give nothing away and if they got anything at the other end, all the
better.
The Clarets kicked off attacking towards us in
the Jimmy McIlroy Stand and actually tried a different kick-off. Instead of the usual Paul
Cook punt into touch down the right wing, Mellon turned and stepped past the first Gills
forward and laid the ball out to West on the half-way line. Wow! We hadn’t given the
ball away, I thought, until West let it roll under his foot and out for a throw-in.
Unfortunately that would just about sum his
night up. Immediately the Dean West haters around us (and there are a few) were shouting
for him to ‘Get off’ and telling him how he wasn’t very good. Personally, I
think five seconds into a game is a bit too early to tell if someone is having a bad game
or not. You may not like certain players, but to always have a go irrespective of how they
are playing cannot be right.
For example, Johnrose has had some poor games
but recently, including Tuesday where he was named Man of the Match, he has been
excellent. Davis started the season poorly but since the arrival of Cox has been immense.
Cook started the season very well but a couple of performances aside has been poor
recently and so it goes on. I have my favourites but I try to judge players by
performance, not by who they are. Most fans do, but the few who don’t really annoy
me, as you end up with a situation where Payton and Davis can do no wrong and West and
Armstrong can do no right.
Two incidents spring to mind that illustrate
this; the first was where Davis gave West a short pass down the line by the half-way line.
The pass was poor and underhit and was intercepted. Did Davis get the criticism? No, it
was West’s fault. Later in the half Davis made a lovely turn on the right wing and
beat a Gillingham player. In acres of space, he hit his cross way over the bar after the
ball bobbled as he hit it, but I didn’t hear one complaint. Imagine if Branchy or
West had done that?
Back to the action, and Gillingham were
defending deep and happily conceding possession and territory to the Burnley back three.
Every time Burnley made a move forward is was snuffed out and the ball invariably ended up
back the Clarets defence. Only occasionally did we manage a cross, but rarely looked like
getting on the end of it. Most of the best work involved Thomas, Johnrose and Smith down
the left and once or twice we did get in, but either the ball flashed across the six yard
box or a Gillingham foot or head knocked it away from danger.
When Gillingham did get the ball to Onura they
supported well and looked dangerous, with Hessenthaler buzzing in midfield and having
another excellent game, showing that you can be a good tackler and a good passer of the
ball. This prevented the Clarets from building sustained bouts of pressure and the crowd
gradually quietened, only occasionally raising their voices when Burnley attacked. A
superb cross-field ball from Smith played Payton in on the right wing, but after cutting
inside his shot was well blocked. On another attack, possibly from a corner, the ball
dropped on the edge of the box to Mellon but the ball wouldn’t come down quick enough
and Hessenthaler charged the shot down well.
With Crichton’s goal rarely threatened it
looked like it would only be a matter of time before the Clarets got the clear cut opening
and went ahead. At least they didn’t look like scoring; even when a deep cross from
way out on their right wing came over, it looked easy enough for West to deal with, even
if it was at the expense of a corner. From our end we had no idea what the conversation
was between Crichton and West but it should have been ‘Away’ and a header out
for a corner. Instead West tried to chest it back to Crichton, but all the pace came off
the ball. It dropped short. Gooden raced in and nipped it over Crichton as he came to
claim it and we were one nil down. Totally undeserved but that’s football.
Now the tone of the game changed slightly.
Gillingham didn’t need anything more whilst the Clarets knew they had to push
forward. Their counter-attacking became swifter and more dangerous as Burnley tried with
all their might to regain a foothold in the game. Every time the ball went in it was
headed out and almost invariably it went to a Gillingham player. This was either good
fortune or enough control and good planning to know where their players would be. It
certainly made for a frustrating time for the Clarets.
Defending so deep, it was difficult to get the
ball over the top for Branch to use his pace, and although he managed to get some joy in
the air and flick the ball on, Payton was struggling against the physical presence of
Ashby and Smith and it was all he could do to keep possession. Davis had a header from a
corner but it didn’t really trouble Bartram, and in truth we struggled to get a clear
sight of goal.
Then Davis played West or Mellon in down the
right wing and as his cross came over Payton rose in the middle and had almost started to
celebrate his goal, when a defender appeared from nowhere and flicked the ball away. A
great piece of defending, but not what I wanted to see!
Half-time and we were still in it, but not
enough chances despite all the possession. At half time, Jepson replaced Smith, which I
felt, for the second game running, was a little harsh on Smith, who hadn’t done
badly. Obviously Stan felt the more physical presence of Jepson might reap some rewards as
he changed to 4-4-2, with Branch and Thomas moving to the left. Initially Branch had some
success, and seemed to have the beating of his man for pace and exploited this well, but
either the final ball was poor or it was well defended. As in the first half, Burnley
rarely seemed able to pick up the clearance and Gillingham cleared.
Burnley were then undone by a similar goal to
the first conceded at Priestfield: a near post corner that was flicked on, but this time
it went straight in at the unguarded back post with Crichton stranded. Burnley had taken
the option of putting two men on Ashby rather than protect the back post, but he still
managed to rise between the two and get the vital touch. A soft goal and now we were up
against it.
Wright and Weller replaced the once again
ineffective Cook and the much-maligned West as the Clarets again went to a back three.
Nosworthy man-marked Wright quite well, although we seemed reluctant to play the ball into
his feet, preferring the high ball to Jepson, who won virtually nothing. Weller was often
faced by two and sometimes three players, but rarely wasted the ball without setting the
world alight. Johnrose was snapping into tackles in the midfield and the effort was there
for all to see. Unfortunately it was all huffing and puffing and they didn’t look
blowing any house down.
Gillingham should have added a third when, after
another swift attack, Onura was left with an open goal, but although he struck it first
time it was too deliberate and Crichton made a superb full length stop to tip the ball
around the post.
At the other end a wild shot from Johnrose was
swerving well wide of the post when Wright killed it with one touch on the edge of the
box, switched it his other foot and hit a snap shot in the blink of an eye. It was a
brilliant piece of skill but the shot went straight at Bartram and was easily saved. The
only other real effort was when Davis hit a volley but the shot lacked real power and
Bartram dived to save quite comfortably.
With twenty minutes to go, Johnrose jumped into
a challenge with Southall and both players went down after a clash of heads. This led to
Johnrose leaving the field with concussion and blurred vision whilst Southall was
substituted a short time later. Unfortunately, as Stan had used all three subs, we had to
finish the game with ten men.
I think it was just after that Gillingham killed
the game off with the third goal. Thomas made a great block after another quick break and
from the resulting corner Smith, one of only three Gills players in the box, wrestled a
defender out of the way and headed the ball in. A definite foul, but the referee had
allowed a lot of that to go on all game. He also allowed a few rash challenges to go
without even a word. One in particular by Wright as his frustration became evident was
pretty wild to say the least.
And so the game should have petered out with ten
man Burnley content to conserve their energy and play out the game whilst Gillingham made
no real effort to attack. A few of the moaners began to leave, but what actually happened
was that Burnley continued to pour forward with an almost total disregard for defence.
Davis was like a man possessed charging up and down the field, leading by example and
everybody seemed to follow. Given the fact that they had a hard game coming up on Saturday
I thought this a strange approach, but I was proud of the effort and commitment shown
right the way up until the fourth minute of stoppage time. A few boos rang out at the
final whistle, but as the players came back to the centre circle to applaud the fans it
was replaced by a big round of applause from the majority who appreciated the effort put
in, although at times the application was not quite right. A harsh result given the
balance of the game and the lack of Glen Little to provide the magic to break down a
resolute defence was obvious to all.
Johnrose was named Man of the Match and for the
second game running he got my second vote but for me, Davis was back to his very best and
an inspiration. As for the rest of the team, the effort was there and most played well or
at least ok, although I felt Jepson and Cook were below par.
Funniest thing was that after the game talking
to Woody I said that I liked Stan because he didn’t get overly upset by defeat or
overly excited by victory and Woody said:
"He’ll probably say, 'It was a bad day
at the office, but we’ll be looking to bounce back on Saturday'."
Imagine my surprise when a very short report in
the Daily Express the following day finished with Stan’s comment:
"It was a bad day at the office but
we’ll bounce back." Woody, you only forgot how terse he is!
Team: Crichton,
Cox, Thomas, Davis, West (Weller 53), Smith (Jepson 46), Mellon, Cook (Wright 53),
Johnrose, Branch, Payton. Subs not used: Lee and Mullin.
Links -
the away game and at least it was better
than this game last season
